Oh Christmas Tree
by snapple79
Summary: Andy is bursting with Christmas excitement. Sam has never thought much of holidays. One simple tree opens both their eyes.


It's been a while, sorry! Life got in the way of writing, but I am working slowly on two multi-chapter fics. In the meantime, enjoy this Christmas one-shot. Don't forget to let me know what you think with a review. :) Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Disclaimer: I don't own Rookie Blue.

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**Oh Christmas Tree**

Andy put another string of lights on the Christmas tree before taking a step back to look at her work. _Perfect_, she thought, before beginning to move boxes around to get to her ornaments. She heard the front door open and close, followed by a pitter-patter of feet across the wood floor as Boo made his way to the kitchen and his water bowl. A few moments later, she turned around as she felt Sam enter the room.

"Good walk?" she asked.

"It's getting cold out there," he replied, rubbing his hands together furiously to warm up.

"Tonight would be a perfect night for a fire," she said, nodding toward the fireplace.

Sam gave a short nod in agreement as he looked at her progress on the tree. "Looking good."

"Wanna help me decorate it?" She was hopeful he'd agree, but she'd been trying not to push her Christmas cheer on him.

"I think I'll leave that to you, McNally," he told her as he sat down on the couch to watch her.

She knew Sam wasn't big on holidays, and while he never talked about it, she assumed it had to do with his childhood. Instead of pushing the issue, she thought she'd share some of her happy memories to possibly lift Sam's spirits about Christmas.

"Christmas was always a big deal, maybe even more so after my mom left," she said, opening a box of ornaments. "We'd dedicate an entire day to decorating, everything from the tree, to stockings, to the front yard. We'd sing along to Christmas songs...okay, _I'd_ sing along while my parents listened."

"Sounds like a lot of fun," Sam interjected.

She faced him smiling. "It was. It was a special time of the year and my dad always seemed happy, even in the difficult times." She thought dreamily about her Christmases as a child and quickly realized Sam likely didn't have those same experiences.

She sat next to him on the couch, her knee bumping his as she rested her hand on his leg. "I can make assumptions why you don't like Christmas, but...but I'd rather hear it from you," she said, looking deep into his eyes.

"It's not that I don't like it. I just, I've never had a lot to be excited about," he admitted. He tore his eyes from her and stared at nothing in particular in front of him. "If the police weren't coming to the house for my father, we were on pins and needles in fear of doing the wrong thing that would get him wound up. If it was year when he was behind bars, then mom was too busy working two jobs to put food on the table that Christmas passed without any fanfare."

When he turned back to her, she saw the sadness in his eyes and she regretted asking him to talk about it. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up bad memories."

He grabbed her arm as she made a move to stand up, and tugged her until she fell against him. "You've got enough excitement for the both of us anyway," he said with a laugh.

"And that's what you love about me," she quipped.

"That and more." He kissed the top of her head.

"Can I ask you one last thing?" she asked, wrapping her arm around his waist as she rested against his chest.

"You, stop asking questions? I'd think something was wrong," he teased.

"HA. How did you spend Christmas when you left home?" she asked, now wondering if he'd ever had a good Christmas.

"I've mostly worked the day, so people like Oliver can be home with the kids and family. It was more important for them and it didn't bother me not to have anything special planned," he told her. "And some years I was undercover so I didn't have much choice about what to do." This year, however, was different. He'd already reserved the day off, because for the first time he had someone he wanted to celebrate the holiday with.

It was hard for Andy to wrap her head around a lifetime of Christmases that weren't meaningful or special. But it also made her understand Sam better. He'd never had a reason to be excited about Christmas, but she was determined to change that. Everyone needed to experience a happy Christmas in her mind.

"I have a proposal," she said, pushing off of him and standing up. "I propose we make new memories, _our _memories." She pulled an ornament, still in its box, out of a shopping bag near the tree. It was two ceramic snowmen kissing, with "Our First Christmas" etched along the bottom. It wasn't only the first Christmas they were celebrating together as a couple, but it was their first Christmas actually living together in their new townhouse. When Andy saw it, she knew it was a perfect addition to their tree.

"It's time for us to make new traditions," she said, pulling it out of the box. "To start, we put the first ornament on the tree together. Always."

Traditions that involved Andy was something Sam could get on board with and give him a reason to be excited about the holiday. He joined her at the tree, and together they found a perfect spot front and center to hang their new ornament.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him hard. "I love you," she mumbled against his lips.

"Love you too." He tugged her closer with his hands on her hips, and gave her a quick peck on the lips.

Too excited to stand still for long, she quickly bounced away from him and over to pick out another ornament. "Oh! I love this one!" she exclaimed, turning around and almost smacking into Sam's chest. She held a miniature stocking with a mouse's head sticking out of it. "See this? As a toddler I would constantly pull the mouse out of the stocking. That's why his head is almost falling off." Sam smiled as she laughed at her own memory. "But my parents never bothered to put it on a higher branch out of my reach. They'd pretend to scold me, I'd put the mouse back, and we'd all laugh. It was like this game we'd play every year."

Sam watched her put one ornament after another on the tree, and after the third one, he made his way over to the open container and pulled one out. "This one okay to put on?" he asked, and she turned around to see him holding an ornament dedicated to a TV show she loved as a child. There was no way to hide her face-splitting grin as she nodded in approval.

Seeing that Sam was now enjoying this with her, Andy began telling more stories about the ornaments. "My dad gave me this when I got accepted into the academy," she said, placing a small police car on the tree.

"And this one was passed down from my great-grandmother, and when I moved into my first apartment my dad gave it to me," she said, showing Sam a glass ball painted delicately with a snowy scene.

Each came with a story, from handmade ones to a 'best friend' ornament from Traci to keepsakes from places she'd traveled. There was even one with a photo of all the rookies in it. Andy smiled as she pulled each and every one from the boxes. She'd even tell a story about ones Sam put on the tree. He was amazed she could remember all the details about each and every one. They were all special to her.

As Sam listened to each story and watched how happy and glowing she was, he realized that _this_ is what Christmas can be about. The excitement, the laughter, the smiles, all with someone you love. Something he never truly experienced.

They had most of the tree decorated when Sam disappeared, and Andy figured he'd gotten bored or could only stand so much of her boisterous mood tonight. She couldn't blame him though; she knew her excitement over the holidays could get a little overwhelming. She appreciated how involved he'd gotten decorating with her.

A few minutes later Sam reappeared, carrying a small, tattered box. Andy looked at it curiously as he walked over to her. She put the ornament she held down to give him her full attention. "What's that?" she asked as Sam fidgeted with the box.

"It's...uh...it was my mother's favorite ornament," he said, slowly opening the box. "She stopped putting it on the tree, fearful it might get broken when…" Andy didn't need him to finish to know he was talking about his father's temper, so she smiled at him, encouraging him to show her what the box held.

He pulled out a porcelain angel that had one hand reaching out and holding a bright gold star. It was breathtaking. "Sam, it's beautiful."

"I thought, maybe, it was time to put it on a tree again," he said.

"I think so too." The corners of her lips curved up as she took the empty box from his hands and watched him find a place for it among all the ornaments.

When he was done, Andy leaned into Sam's side and wrapped her arms around his waist, as his curled around her shoulders. "It looks perfect there. I love it," she said.

Sam let out a breath, and it was as if he was letting go of Christmases past. His mother's ornament had its place on a tree again. And he, he had been given the gift of a happy Christmas, something he'd never admit to often envying as a child.

Later, as they lay on the couch, sipping hot chocolate as a fire roared in their fireplace - and Boo was asleep in his new favorite spot, under the tree - Andy looked around at all their decorations. "I know I have a lot of traditions and all of these sentimental ornaments and things, but I want this year - and all our future ones - to be _our _Christmas, what we make it," she said.

"I'd like that." He tightened his hold on her. "Just don't ever think you're getting me into a Santa hat," he said with a laugh.

He felt the shakes of Andy's laughter against him. "I got you in a birthday hat, didn't I?" She lifted her head so he could see her quirk her eyebrows, challenging him.

He simply shook his head, not bothering to mention how he'd been half asleep and nearly sleepwalking the time she managed to get the thing on his head. Instead, he wrapped his hand around the back of her neck and pulled her close enough until he could capture her lips with his own. This right here was what Christmas could be, and this was a memory he would always remember.

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The End.


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